My next purchase is going to be a 430EX (I THINK!) And I have a few questions...

1. Do any of you your diffusers?
2. Do you use an off camera shoe cord with it?
3. Am I correct that it has E-TTL and so you dont have to use a shoe cord?? (sorry...im still learning all this flash stuff )
4. Will this work for portrait photography?
5. What about outside...do you use one like this outside to fill shadows if you are shooting someone in natural light?

I have a Lumiquest diffuser, but I don't use it very often. I much prefer to bounce the flash.

2. Do you use an off camera shoe cord with it?

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Yes I do...but only when I have it mounted on my flash bracket.

3. Am I correct that it has E-TTL and so you don't have to use a shoe cord??

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It is E-TTL compatible, which means that it uses a preflash which is metered by the camera (Through The Lens). You can use E-TTL with the flash on the camera (no cord) or off the camera (with the shoe cord) or if you use Canon's wireless flash control (but that requires both a master and a slave unit).

4. Will this work for portrait photography?

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Sure

5. What about outside...do you use one like this outside to fill shadows if you are shooting someone in natural light?

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All the time.

It should be mentioned that shooting outside in bright sunlight, to fill shadows...is actually something that requires a lot of flash power. This is because you are limited by the max sync speed, which requires you to use a small aperture...and the smaller the aperture, the more flash power you need.
Now, this flash does have HSS (High Speed Sync), which allows you to shoot at faster shutter speeds but it greatly reduces the range.

So yes, you can use the 430EX as fill when shooting in the sunlight...but it that is something you do a lot of...you may want to consider something more powerful like the 580EX.

My next purchase is going to be a 430EX (I THINK!) And I have a few questions...

1. Do any of you your diffusers?
2. Do you use an off camera shoe cord with it?
3. Am I correct that it has E-TTL and so you dont have to use a shoe cord?? (sorry...im still learning all this flash stuff )
4. Will this work for portrait photography?
5. What about outside...do you use one like this outside to fill shadows if you are shooting someone in natural light?

Im sure I will have more questions to come...:hugs:

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You should pick up a copy of "Light Science and Magic" if you want to do portrait work. It goes a long way in explaining the hows and why's fairly easily without saying "If you want this shot, you put this light in that location." Definitely a good resource.

An off camera cord would be a good idea for lighting as well as even going with a cheap set of e-bay triggers if you didn't want to spend a lot of money. A Cactus V2S transmitter and receiver cost about $30. They're no where near reliable as a set of $185 Skyports, but they're good for experimenting.

If you're doing photography people you're going to want a diffuser of some sort. A good purchase for a start kit if you're going off camera is a cheap lightstand, an umbrella adapter, and a white shoot through umbrella. You can do a lot with your photos with just a setup like this.

A great resource for lighting, and not just the off camera kind. A lot of the principles can be tied into lighting in general.www.strobist.com

for #1 i might add that a diffuser is very useful when you want to shoot a larger group. It will really spread out the flash

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The flash has a zoom head and will match itself to the focal length of the lens that you are using. It even has a built-in, pull-out panel to spread the light further for when you are using a really wide angle lens.

A 'diffuser' may spread the light wider that the lens can see, which would be a waste. Not to mention that any diffuser will steal a fair bit of light power anyway.

I have a Lumiquest diffuser, but I don't use it very often. I much prefer to bounce the flash.

Yes I do...but only when I have it mounted on my flash bracket.

It is E-TTL compatible, which means that it uses a preflash which is metered by the camera (Through The Lens). You can use E-TTL with the flash on the camera (no cord) or off the camera (with the shoe cord) or if you use Canon's wireless flash control (but that requires both a master and a slave unit).

Sure

All the time.

It should be mentioned that shooting outside in bright sunlight, to fill shadows...is actually something that requires a lot of flash power. This is because you are limited by the max sync speed, which requires you to use a small aperture...and the smaller the aperture, the more flash power you need.
Now, this flash does have HSS (High Speed Sync), which allows you to shoot at faster shutter speeds but it greatly reduces the range.

So yes, you can use the 430EX as fill when shooting in the sunlight...but it that is something you do a lot of...you may want to consider something more powerful like the 580EX.

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OK...so you always have to use a cord if going off camera....unless using a transmitter/receiver? Is that correct? Do you just hold in your hand, when using a cord?

The flash has a zoom head and will match itself to the focal length of the lens that you are using. It even has a built-in, pull-out panel to spread the light further for when you are using a really wide angle lens.

A 'diffuser' may spread the light wider that the lens can see, which would be a waste. Not to mention that any diffuser will steal a fair bit of light power anyway.

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Thats what I had read, so that why I was wondering if anyone used one. I think I would rather just bounce it off something.

OK...so you always have to use a cord if going off camera....unless using a transmitter/receiver? Is that correct? Do you just hold in your hand, when using a cord?

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You can, or get a flash bracket, or use a light stand. You can get 50' cords. In fact, you could setup a studio with small strobes using just cables. You could also use optical slaves with certain flashes. The 430EX doesn't like optical slaves. Or you could get an st-E2 or 580EX/II to control the 430EX off camera. Wireless is sometimes just a matter of convenience and is not always a necessity.

Thats what I had read, so that why I was wondering if anyone used one. I think I would rather just bounce it off something.

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Diffusers act a little like a bare bulb spreading the light in all directions. Using this in conjunction with bouncing the light off a ceiling should provide a mode even spread, but will use more flash power and batteries. That's why people reccomend bounce cards. Using a flash bounced straight up and down can leave your subjects with shadows under thier eyes where as using a white card on the back of the flash will send some of the light forwards and help eliminate that problem.

that's why doing portraits with off camera light, a stand, and an umbrella is better. You'll get to control the light rather than just firing it up at a ceiling and hoping the ceiling color or wall colors or angles don't negatively affect anything.

OK...so you always have to use a cord if going off camera....unless using a transmitter/receiver? Is that correct? Do you just hold in your hand, when using a cord?

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Lets break it down. If you are using the flash 'off camera'...then you will need some way of triggering it. It could be a cord or it could be wireless. If you want to have E-TTL, then you must use either the 'Off-shoe-cord' or the Canon IR wireless (Master & Slave).
There are alternatives; cords that do not have the 5-pin connection hot shoe...or wireless radio triggers. These will only trigger the flash to fire, not communicate for metering (so no E-TTL).

When you are using the cord for off camera flash, you can hold it in your other hand or do whatever you want. The cord is only 24" long, so you can't go too far. I use the shoe cord when I'm using a flash bracket. The bracket flips, so that I can have the flash above the camera, even when I turn the camera to shoot in portrait orientation.

If you want to use the flash 'off camera'...as in, on a stand off to the side....then the shoe cord isn't a good option.

Lets break it down. If you are using the flash 'off camera'...then you will need some way of triggering it. It could be a cord or it could be wireless. If you want to have E-TTL, then you must use either the 'Off-shoe-cord' or the Canon IR wireless (Master & Slave).
There are alternatives; cords that do not have the 5-pin connection hot shoe...or wireless radio triggers. These will only trigger the flash to fire, not communicate for metering (so no E-TTL).

When you are using the cord for off camera flash, you can hold it in your other hand or do whatever you want. The cord is only 24" long, so you can't go too far. I use the shoe cord when I'm using a flash bracket. The bracket flips, so that I can have the flash above the camera, even when I turn the camera to shoot in portrait orientation.

If you want to use the flash 'off camera'...as in, on a stand off to the side....then the shoe cord isn't a good option.

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Ok...so a bracket is like the things I see wedding photographers use that moves the flash off to the side, rather then being smack dab in the middle of the camera, right? And it flips so (like you said) you can use it even when you have the camera vertical (like when shooting portraits)...right?

You can, or get a flash bracket, or use a light stand. You can get 50' cords. In fact, you could setup a studio with small strobes using just cables. You could also use optical slaves with certain flashes. The 430EX doesn't like optical slaves. Or you could get an st-E2 or 580EX/II to control the 430EX off camera. Wireless is sometimes just a matter of convenience and is not always a necessity.